Bit by a Fox Podcast

Episode 23: Gay Bars Through History with Christine Sismondo

The Bit by a Fox Podcast is all about booze. Each week, host Prairie Rose, founder of the award winning spirits and cocktail blog Bit by a Fox, will talk cocktails, drinking culture, imbibing through history, and what’s trending today in the world of intoxicants. She’ll talk to the personalities behind the booze, experts in their field, and supercool people who are fun to drank with. They’ll chat about the trends, how we got here, and the ultimate cocktail party fodder - the hidden stories behind the booze. Follow the Bit by a Fox blog for updates, recipes and show news. And @bitbyafox on Instagram for behind the scenes. Hosted by Prairie Rose. Produced and engineered by Anna Tivell. Music from Human Worldwide.

In honor of Gay Pride Month, we’ve decided to devote the rest of
the month on the Bit by a Fox Podcast to LGBTQ stories
– highlighting the importance of gay bars and clubs
through history, the cultural impact of the movements that came out
of those important spaces, and the renegades, revolutionaries and
icons behind it all. It’s such a big subject, we’re creating our
first podcast series in honor of Pride Month.

In the first episode of our three part series, we touch on gay
bars through history. Many have argued that the American gay rights
movement was kicked off in a bar. Our guest, writer and historian,
Christine Sismondo, PHD, has been researching the
history of lesbian and gay bars in Toronto, some parts of which
have been published in Any Other Way: How Toronto Got
Queer (2017), and she is the author of America Walks into a Bar,a book
about the history of bars in the United States. We discussed how
bars have played such a crucial role in gay culture and politics
through the years.

Our cocktail this week is a Gin Rickey. Christine picked this
classic, tall drink because it was most likely the kind of drink
being served at one of these historic gay bars. Gin was also a
favorite of Walt Whitman.

About the Podcast

A boozy podcast with bite! Each week, host Prairie Rose, founder of the award-winning cocktail and spirits blog Bit by a Fox, will talk drinking culture, imbibing through history, and what’s trending today in the world of intoxicants. She’ll talk to the personalities and experts behind the booze - from scientists and historians to master distillers, wine makers and industry insiders. Every week She'll uncover the hidden stories behind the glass, with plenty of cocktail party fodder to spare. Follow the Bit by a Fox blog for updates, recipes and show news, and @bitbyafox on Instagram for behind the scenes. Hosted, edited and produced by Prairie Rose. Music from Human Worldwide.